“The idea was to get a mammogram done just to show how easy it is to do,” said Nickles.  Little did she know that simple test helped doctors find a small tumor. 

“At first I thought it was nothing, because I’d had a dense spot that needed to be checked before.  But the doctors called twice to get me to come back in. I was working, coaching JD freshman and sophomore volleyball every day, and too busy to schedule it. It was the second call about the ultrasound that the doctors sounded nervous,” said Nickles. With all of that pressure, she knew it could be something serious.

 After she learned that the tumor was an invasive type of cancer, doctors decided she would need surgery to remove it. “I was really scared at first,” said Nickles. Her twins, Zach and MacKenzie Nickles, were with their mom from start to finish. “The tumor was the size of my baby fingernail,” said Zach Nickles.

 Since the surgery, Nickles has started chemotherapy, a way of removing cancer from the blood cells throughout her body.  “I am feeling very minor effects of the chemotherapy,” said Nickles.  “Some people can’t go to work or walk very well, so I feel lucky to have my strength and energy for now.”

 “I started losing my hair, so when it got really thin, my husband and kids used a trimmer to give me a short buzz cut.  It’s pretty cool, and I started wearing a wig to look more normal for my job.” 

 Throughout it all, she has learned cancer is not easy to overcome. “I think the hardest part about cancer is how scary it is to have it.  There are so many different kinds of cancer, but not all of them are deadly.  Treatment and options are incredible, especially here in Utah with all of the amazing doctors and research we have here.  There’s a chance that some cancer is still in my system, but that’s why we’re going through chemo and radiation...to make sure every last evil, tiny cell is out of my body.”

Nickles is grateful to have a very helpful community and family. “ I have two Facebook pages with almost 20,000 friends, plus station email, voicemail, and I started a blog.  I have found dozens of new friends who’ve gone through cancer treatments, or have a loved one who has,” said Nickles.

 Nickles has also received many heartfelt gifts and notes from people wanting to show their support. But the one thing she relies on most is her family, especially her husband, Kent. “Kent is home since our business closed, so he has the dishes and laundry done and errands run, so when I get home in the afternoon, I get to take a nap, fix dinner and hang out with the kids,” said Nickles “So far, I’ve been feeling pretty great, but I know if I start to get more tired, my family will be even more helpful to make sure I get my rest.”

 Nickles thinks sharing her personal battle on the news is an overwhelming success for early detection. “The big thing I’ve heard from doctors is that people are scheduling their mammograms and getting screened.  Intermountain Medical Center said offices were flooded with calls for appointments and that many mentioned having seen my diagnosis story.  If more people get screened because of this, I’m thrilled.”

 Nickles is now trying to get rid of all cancer and recover from the effects of chemotherapy. “I hope to be ‘back-to-normal’ healthy a month or so after chemo.  My hair will grow back, and my muscles will start to rebuild.  I’ll try to keep strong, but I really want to scrimmage against the varsity volleyball team with the rest of the coaches next year.  That’s my recovery goal.”

“It was simply a story idea showing how easy mammograms are to get. Because of this, doctors were able to detect my cancerous tumor,” said Nickles. “It is amazing that people put off getting screenings that could catch something early.  That story idea saved my life.”